1. Technical Field
This invention relates to presentation equipment, and more particularly to a self-contained, pocket sized presentation device with wireless slide advance.
2. Background Information
Presentations have long been used as a convenient tool to convey information in business, personal, as well as academic life. More recently, with highly developed computer technologies, a computer screen has been widely utilized as a convenient medium for presenting information to an audience. The use of computer-implemented presentations has become particularly popular due to the popularity of presentation software such as the PowerPoint™ application by Microsoft® Corporation (Redmond, Wash.).
If presented to relatively small audiences, these presentations may be displayed on the screen of a personal computing device such as a desktop or notebook computer, or even a handheld device such as a cell phone or PDA. However, when presented to a larger audience, such as in a conference center or auditorium, presentations are generally outputted from a host computer onto a large screen, such as by a projector coupled to the host computer, or onto a large wall mounted flat panel display. In these latter instances, a presenter may electronically forward the presentation as a data file e.g., in .ppt (PowerPoint™) format or the like, to the venue, where an organizer may upload the presentation onto the host computer. Then, at the venue, the presenter may operate the host computer to open and display the .ppt presentation on the screen.
In such a large venue, the presenter (e.g., a teacher or a reporter) generally stands in front of the audience, next to or in front of the screen. The presenter may stand in a fixed location, e.g., at a podium, or may move among various locations while presenting. In these instances, an assistant is usually required to actuate the “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys on the computer to proceed through the presentation.
Disadvantageously, there are times in which what is displayed on the screen is not what is wanted by the presenter, and substantial time may be wasted in correcting the display. Other disadvantages associated with the foregoing approach include the possibility of the .ppt presentation becoming corrupted or damaged during emailing to the venue, or of the presentations becoming lost or damaged due to human error of the personnel at the venue. Moreover, the presenter may make last minute changes to the presentation, which would not be reflected in the version previously sent to the venue.
In an attempt to avoid these potential pitfalls, the presenter may save the presentation onto portable media, and personally bring the media to the venue, for use in the host computer. While this may help eliminate some of the foregoing issues, one still runs the risk that the media may be of the wrong format or version, or otherwise incompatible with the hardware or software of the host machine. Moreover, even if the presentation is able to be properly read and displayed by the host computer, the presenter may still be effectively tethered to the host computer, or be required to employ an assistant, in order to manually actuate the “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys. And, while some host computers may be equipped with remote controls to remotely actuate the “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys, such remotes tend to become easily lost or broken, and as such, their availability can not be relied upon by visiting presenters.
A need therefore exists for an improved presentation apparatus that addresses one or more of the foregoing unresolved issues.